Despite the widespread education reform discourses attempting to alleviate high-stakes examination pressure and narrowly test-driven education systems in East Asia, none have been as systematic and drastic as the Free Year Program (FYP) recently implemented in South Korea. The FYP provides middle school students with a year-long reprieve from…

This study reports on an investigation into the impact of a national, school-based teacher development programme on learning and teaching in Kenyan primary schools. Building on a national baseline study (n=102), 144 video-recorded lessons, covering the teaching of English, maths and science at Standards 3 and 6, were analysed to investigate…

Since the Haby Act of 1975, French authorities have been endeavoring to create a nationwide educational system that is socially just, meets the needs of all children and teenagers while allowing for different capacities and circumstances, maintains France's traditionally high standards, and produces a happy, dynamic, and prosperous society. (BRR)

The Hungarian situation is described as a case study to illustrate the processes by which the political and economic imperatives of a socialist country are translated into classroom curricula and practice. The structure of the National Pedagogical Institute and its departments of education is outlined. (Author/SJL)

An analysis of national programs for monitoring student achievement in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States finds that "national assessment" promotes a view of "standards" which is narrow, limiting, and definitely not conducive to the emergence of flexible and imaginative educational policies designed to cope…

How free are developing countries to develop systems of education tailored to their own individual needs? Considers the need for relevance in educational policy, the effect of colonial educational practice upon developing nations trying to create policies appropriate for their educational and political development, and the influence of the…

Examines recent attempts to restructure French secondary schooling in order to provide equal opportunity and more relevant curriculum. Discusses some impediments to these reforms, particularly the opposition of teachers and their unions. (SJL)

After outlining an ideal, the author examines the reality of the response by governments of the major host countries of Europe to the educational needs of migrants' children to determine how far they have been met and to suggest some factors which may have determined the nature of this response. (Author/SJL)

The author sketches the curricular and structural changes in schooling resulting from Spain's 1970 reform law instituting Basic General Education. He considers how well the system is operating 10 years later and whether it is providing schooling that is more democratic, more relevant to an industrial society, and more efficient. (Author/SJL)

Uses France and England--because of their radically different institutional and ideological traditions in education--to illustrate common trends in educational accountability. Explains general trends affecting advanced capitalist societies at the present time, e.g., the use of corporate management approaches in education and the adoption of…

This article discusses the comprehensive secondary schools which have so far been created in West Germany. It points out the ways they differ from English comprehensive schools, summarizes research results, and looks at teacher training needs. (SJL)

Uses Israel as an example to examine three variables--size, organizational mode, and political value system--and their effects on educational policy making and planning at a national level. Argues that in Israel's case small size, centralization, and democracy interact to create a new type of planning behavior termed the enlightenment approach.…

It was only in the late 1970s that Australian educationists began to devote particular attention to the development of multicultural education in Australian society. Nonetheless, Australia has made very substantial academic and practical contributions to a field which is of increasing worldwide interest. (BRR)

This essay applies a model to guide an analysis of goodness-of-fit between national and educational plans. The model is described through application to Nepal. In the process, information is collected on Nepal's 25 years of educational efforts and the reciprocal relationship to national development. (Author/KC)

Discusses author's observations of poverty-related problems within rural Sri Lankan schools. Juxtaposes literature on Third World education problems at national, district, school, and individual levels. Concludes high educational expectations in developing world are tightly constrained by poverty, negative attitudes, and weaknesses of systems.…